


Cas and the Angry Sleeper

by Phoenixa16



Category: Supernatural
Genre: 13.06 "Tombstone", Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angry Sleeper Dean, Destiel - Freeform, Flashbacks, Friends to Lovers, Jack watches romcoms, M/M, Meddling Sam, Sam Ships It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-12
Updated: 2018-09-15
Packaged: 2019-02-13 20:53:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12992316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phoenixa16/pseuds/Phoenixa16
Summary: "I told you. He's an angry sleeper. Like a bear."“Have you done this before?” Jack inquired.“Jack, Dean and I-” Cas began, but was interrupted by Sam.“Have a profound bond, Jack. It runs deep.” Sam didn’t even attempt to hide his smirk this time.When Jack awakens the "angry sleeper", he accidentally opens the floodgates to something that had been unspoken between Dean and Castiel for years.They can no longer ignore the deeper meaning behind the aspects of their friendship, especially not with a too-inquisitive-for-his-own-good Nephilim and a meddling brother with a not-so hidden agenda.Some things are better left untouched.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The idea for this came from that scene in 13x06 "Tombstone". I, of course, do not own any aspect of Supernatural.

Cas tried to stop him- he really did. Jack was just too eager to share what was found. Cas followed behind Jack with a final warning.

“Jack, I wouldn’t do tha-” is all he managed to get out before Dean’s yell filled the room. Cas threw Dean an exasperated look before glancing at Jack.

“Ah, hey. Who’s making me coffee?” Dean grumbled, returning to his resting position.

Cas was vaguely aware of Jack looking at him, but he was still focused on Dean. He couldn't quite ignore the butterflies in his stomach as his mind recalls a memory from years before.

***

_Cas had been steadily researching for days before he found something. The Winchesters were working a case that they couldn’t quite crack, so they called in the angel for an extra pair of eyes that wouldn’t grow tired. Sam was out getting food, and Dean was resting for the first time in days._

_Excited to share his discovery, Cas rushed to Dean’s bed, putting a hand on the same shoulder as he did when he raised Dean from Hell, and said “Dean, I think I might have-” Cas was cut off by the sleek metal object pointing directly at his face._

_“Dean,” Cas said slowly, in a low voice, “It’s me.”_

_Time stood still. After a few seconds, Dean groaned._

_“Cas?” he began, tucking the gun under his pillow. “You’d better have a damn good reason for waking me up like that. I could’ve shot you!”_

_Cas gave Dean an indecipherable look. “Dean, those bullets aren’t designed to kill angels. You hardly would have harmed me.”_

_“Yeah, well, just don’t next time, okay?!”_

_Cas cocked his head. “You’re angry. Why?”_

_Dean sighed, sitting up. “Look, Cas. There’s a reason I sleep with a gun under the pillow. I expect most of my ‘rude awakenings’ to come from monsters, okay? Not from someone wanting to- what exactly did you want?”_

_Confusion crossed Cas’s face before smiling a little. “I found a break in the case. I know you already searched abandoned warehouses, but you didn’t go down the bridge by the river to-”_

_“Alright, alright!” The look on Dean’s face was a mixture of annoyance and sleepy. “Cas, look man, it’s great that you found a lead in the case. Greater than great. But, look, I just woke up. Unexpectedly, I might add. I’m gonna need a few minutes before I can even begin to process whatever the hell it is you just said.”_

_Cas nodded. “You need to wake up. I understand.” With a flutter of his wings, Cas disappeared from sight, only to reappear moments later with a large paper cup with steam seeping from the lid. He thrust the cup towards Dean, who eyed it critically._

_“You got me coffee?” Dean asked incredulously._

_“You said you needed to wake up. I understand that the contents of this beverage- mainly the caffeine, although the other substances such as putrescine are less than appealing-” Cas noticed Dean’s exaggerated eye roll, “-are meant to aid in one growing aware of their surroundings and, essentially, waking them up.”_

_Dean gave Cas another look before grabbing the cup and taking a long gulp. “Thanks, Cas.”_

_“You’re welcome, Dean.”_

***

Cas shook out of his reverie, and with a sigh, said, “I’ll go put on a pot.” Exiting the ‘bedroom’ ( _if you could call it that,_ Cas thought), Cas became aware of the presence of the being he swore to protect.

“Jack,” Cas turned to face the boy, “I’m sorry I didn’t warn you sooner. Dean can be a bit of a…  Of an angry sleeper, so to speak.”

Jack cocked his head, the movement and facial expression mirroring Castiel’s. “An… Angry sleeper? How is that a thing? If you are asleep, how are you angry? Sleeping is when you are most peaceful. Is anger not a conscious emotion?”

Before Cas had the chance to answer, Sam stumbled into the kitchenette with a low chuckle. “Jack, Dean can be an angry _anything._ ”

When Dean finally emerged, he went straight to the coffee pot, fixing his drink. Jack observed him carefully. After the first large gulp, Dean looked over at Cas and, with a sleepy smile, said “Thanks, Cas.” Jack looked at Castiel as he replied, “You’re welcome, Dean.”

“I told you,” Cas said in a voice only Jack could hear. “He’s an angry sleeper. Like a bear.”

Confusion crossed the nephilim’s face. “Have you done this before?” Jack inquired. Cas looked at him carefully, while Dean stiffened a bit. Sam, who had been pretending to be otherwise occupied, sat up a little straighter.

Cas cleared his throat. “It has become something of a routine between Dean and I.” His voice only showed the slightest hints of strain and discomfort. Jack seemed to pick up on it.

“Oh. So, you’ve woken him up before? You’ve experienced the “angry sleeper”? But I read that making coffee in the morning was typical between lovers…” Jack trailed off, obviously trying to piece things together.

Dean spluttered his coffee and Sam choked back a laugh. “WHAT?” Dean managed to say after a moment.

“Jack, Dean and I-” Cas began, but was interrupted by Sam.

“Have a _profound_ _bond_ , Jack. It runs deep.” Sam didn’t even attempt to hide his smirk this time.

“Dammit, Sam!” Dean cursed. Cas inhaled and stared at the door. “You know what? I’m going to shower.” He slammed the cup down, coffee sloshing around, and exited the space with a final glare at Sam.

A few moments of silence passed, with Jack and Sam looking in the direction Dean went.

Cas stood, bringing the other two occupants of the room to look at him. “I’m uh, going to go get some ice.” He quickly left out of the motel door.

Jack looked at Sam. “The ice bucket is already full.”

Sam scoffed lightly. “I think the ice means Cas needed a cool down.”

“A cool down? Because of what I said? Sam, I didn’t mean to-!”

“Hey, Jack, calm down. They’ll get over it, alright?”

Jack nodded. After a few seconds, once Sam had stood, Jack mused aloud, “I wonder when Castiel first encountered the “angry sleeper”.

Sam turned to face Jack with a laugh, only to freeze suddenly. “You know what, Jack? Let me tell you about the time I came back to the bunker late one night…”


	2. Late One Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What did Sam see when he came back to the bunker late one night?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay- I wanted to have some idea of where I wanted this story to go.

Castiel knew why Sam’s comment set Dean off. Granted, it could have been innocent enough, in a different tone. _Or coming from anyone else_ , Cas thought bitterly.

Sam never mocked their _bond_ outright, but he had often made subtle comments, laced with innuendos- most of which had to be explained to Cas afterwards. But the angel had gotten used to that _tone_ , and he knew what Sam was implying.

Cas also knew something that Dean didn’t know. Something that Dean would likely kill both Sam _and_ Castiel over should he ever find out.

***

_Cas was sitting on a bench on the side of a jogging path. Beyond the path was a pond, where Castiel could see a family of ducks lounging in the water together. Head tilted, he observed the ducks, his mind drifting to his own ‘family’ back in the Bunker. Castiel sighed and looked away, the thoughts that he had been trying to ignore creeping back to the front of his mind. ‘Family’. Did he truly belong there, with Sam and Dean? After all he had done, all of the lives he took, did he even_ deserve _to-_

_“Ah!” Castiel’s thoughts were interrupted- just as well- by a sudden sharp pain in his temple. Angel Radio? No, this felt different…_

_“Ah!” Another painful jolt struck Castiel, causing him to wince as he stood. That time it came from his chest. Before Castiel could process that, he heard a faint whisper in his head. His eyes widened._

_“Dean.” Castiel gasped, racing to his car. Everything was a blur as Cas sped back to the Bunker. Once inside, Cas let the whisper guide him down several hallways, coming to a stop in the doorway to one of the dens. The distress signal was stronger here, and Cas instantly knew Dean was asleep. It was a familiar feeling, whenever Dean had a nightmare or called out for-_

_“Cas…” The mumble caused Castiel to step into the room, nearing the couch where Dean had dozed off._

_When his shoe hit something, Cas looked down, seeing one of four empty bottles of beer. He exhaled, the sigh equal parts resigned and frustrated. Cas leaned down to pick up a few of the bottles, noticing the thankfully-three-fourths-full bottle of whiskey dangling from Dean’s fist. Cas stood, putting the beer bottles on the end table, and carefully extracted the other bottle from Dean’s grasp._

_Cas looked down at Dean’s sleeping form. The man didn’t appear to be having a nightmare just yet, although the twitching of his eyebrows hinted at the beginnings of one. Dean was sitting almost upright on the couch, body slumped towards the arm and head resting on the back of the chair. Castiel frowned at that- he knew that position couldn’t be comfortable, and that Dean would likely have a sore neck and back once he woke._

_Moving slow in an effort to not awaken the snoring man, Castiel attempted to shift Dean’s body into a more comfortable position. As he did, Dean called out his name again. Cas stilled, staring at the man._

_After a moment of silence, Cas continued to slowly ease Dean into a different position. Dean’s body started leaning the other way, and Cas quickly wrapped his arm around him to steady him. His hand touched Dean’s left shoulder, where Castiel’s handprint used to be. Dean’s hand immediately grasped Castiel’s arm, tugging on it._

_Cas stayed like that for a few moments, awkwardly leaning over Dean, mouth turned down as his eyes took in the sleeping face below him. He moved to slip out of the grasp, but Dean’s hand tightened with a mumbled ‘Cas’. Careful not to move too fast, Cas sat next to Dean on the couch to stop him from falling over. Dean’s grip on his arm loosened a bit as his head dropped to Cas’s shoulder, causing Cas to look down at him with a shocked expression._

_“Cas… Help… Stop me… Before I hurt him…” Oh. Dean was having a nightmare about his time as demon. He had been avoiding Sam for a few weeks now, and this wasn’t the first nightmare he had about it. When Dean suddenly jerked violently, Castiel immediately wrapped both arms around him and said his name. Cas continued to mutter calming words in a low voice while holding Dean._

_Cas watched as Dean’s body calmed, falling into a restful state, clinging tightly to Cas as he would a lifeline. “I’m here, Dean.”_

_In the weeks since Dean was cured, the tension in the Bunker had increased. Sam was hovering, worried about the lingering traces of demon coursing through his brother’s veins. Dean was doing his best to avoid his brother, and not just because Sam was in “Mother Hen” mode. Dean was scared, evident by his nocturnal mumbling. He was scared of what he almost did, what he might do to his brother. Knowing how close the two were, it pained Cas to know they were both hurting. Sam’s concerned expressions and Dean’s almost imperceptible flinches only furthered the distance between the brothers, and Cas was at a loss on how to fix it._

_Cas looked down at the human in his arms. He had been through so much already- Dean didn’t need to experience losing his brother yet again. The self-isolation and increase in alcohol consumption were telltale signs of a Dean Winchester downward spiral, and Cas was determined to stop it before it got worse. He thought about the bright, mirthful smile that hadn’t touched the hunter’s face in a while, about the shining green eyes that had begun to grow dull. He thought about the man who put on a brave face even when all he wanted to do was break down. Only in his sleep, really, did Dean allow himself to ‘let go’ like this._

_Cas was brought out of his musings by the sound of heavy footsteps. He tensed slightly, but forced himself to relax as Dean let out a small groan. Cas turned to his head to the doorway, seeing the wide eyes of the younger Winchester, who was taking in the sight of his brother clinging to their best friend. When Sam finally looked at Castiel, there was a moment of silent exchange. Cas glanced down at Dean and looked back at Sam, lips parted and eyebrows pulled together. Sam’s eyebrows were in a similar state, his shocked eyes melting into an uneasy acceptance. Sam stepped forward, and Cas immediately shook his head. ‘Later’, he mouthed._

***

“So, what happened next?”

Sam’s eyebrows twitched upward as he exhaled a tiny scoff and blinked. “I left. I didn’t want to wake Dean, and Cas- well, I trust him. He wouldn’t do anything to hurt Dean.”

“Of course not. Castiel is good.” Sam’s lips twitched into a smile. “So, was that it? You walked in on them... Embracing?”

“Yeah, I guess you could say that. I mean, the next morning, Cas and I talked about it. He was already in the kitchen, making coffee-” Sam blinked at Jack’s expression of satisfaction, “- when I walked in. He said ‘Sam, about last night…’ but I cut him off. I told him that it’s great that Dean is reaching out, even if it’s unconsciously. I knew Dean was still hurting-”

“Because he was a demon.” Jack interjected for clarification.

“Yeah, and because he almost attacked me, he wasn’t talking to me. He was practically avoiding me. That’s part of the reason I went out that day- the tension was unbearable. But Cas… Well, he stopped Dean from attacking me. That profound bond I mentioned earlier? That’s kind of what it is. Cas can bring Dean back from the dark, he can reason with Dean. I even told him that. I think my exact words were ‘I know you care about him as much as he cares about you’.

“You said that? To Castiel? What did he say?” Jack leaned in, curiosity written across the nephilim’s face.

Sam gave another ‘silent’ snort with a shake of his head. “He started to protest, but then Dean walked in.”

“And the coffee?”

“Uh. Oh, Cas passed the mug over to him and avoided eye contact with me.”

“I see.” Jack leaned back with a reflective expression.

Sam gave Jack a sidelong look. “Jack, what are you-”

The sound of the shower cutting off silenced Sam.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone knows what I'm describing when I say "Sam gave a small scoff". It's usually accompanied by a small smile or an eyebrow/mouth twitch.. Can often be seen when he says "So get this". (If anyone has a better way to describe this, let me know!)

**Author's Note:**

> This is a WIP, so I am open to comments and suggestions. Reviews are welcomed!


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